SUV Crashes into Dallas Apartment Building, Killing Three

An SUV slammed into an Oak Cliff apartment building Wednesday morning, killing the driver and two passengers. The accident occurred on the 1700 block of West 10th Street. Witnesses estimate the blue Durango Esparza was travelling at 70 to 100 mph when it struck a white car parked in front of the apartment complex. The force of the impact sent both vehicles airborne into the building. The SUV landed upright on the porch and partly partly crashed through the front units on the first and second floors.

All three of the SUV’s occupants were killed. They have been identified as 56 year-old Lucinda Rosas De Esparza, 66 year-old Evelina Maltos and 93 year-old Paul Maltos.

Fortunately, none of the building’s tenants were injured. But in a frightening what-if, the vehicle came to rest inches from a baby’s crib, but the family wasn’t home. Another tenant was jarred awake, but escaped uninjured.

Sadly, Ernest Esparza who lives just two blocks from the scene, recognized his mother’s vehicle while watching television coverage of the accident. He rushed to the scene, but unable to get any news of his mother, went home, where police officers notified him of her death.

Police are not yet sure who was driving the SUV. But Mr. Esparza expressed doubt that his mother would have intentionally been speeding. He told 5 NBCDFW reporters, “My mom does not drive fast, so it had to be a heart attack. It had to be she blacked out or something [if she was at the wheel]. But it’s just speculation because we don’t know.”

This senseless collision is reminiscent of one that occurred in March in Fort Worth. A driver attempting to flee the scene of an earlier minor car crash careened into a convenience store, killing a young mother and injuring other customers. The pickup truck came to stop completely inside the market and the badly damaged building risked collapse. Isaac Adams was arrested and charged with intoxication manslaughter and hit-and-run.

Bill Berenson Injury Law has handled several cases of cars running into buildings. In one case, a young man was injured when a truck crashed through the glass window of an Arlington 7-11 where he was buying a soda. We recovered a good settlement after subpoenaing surveillance tapes and securing witness statements.

Currently my firm is helping a client recover for injuries he sustained when a vehicle ran into him and sent his vehicle into an Irving office building.